{"id":393,"date":"2008-01-24T12:11:44","date_gmt":"2008-01-24T18:11:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamingwithchildren.com\/2008-01-24\/10-attacks-on-videogames-in-2007\/"},"modified":"2008-01-24T12:11:44","modified_gmt":"2008-01-24T18:11:44","slug":"10-attacks-on-videogames-in-2007","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2008\/01\/24\/10-attacks-on-videogames-in-2007\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Attacks on Videogames in 2007"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"1.jpg\"A gamer calling himself Recoton2007 has compiled a video of the top 10 attacks from the mainstream media regarding videogames in 2007 (taken from GameTrailers.com). It showcases why we do what we do and why it’s important. Go ahead and watch the video while I comment on them one by one. I can’t seem to embed this video, so please come back after clicking the link.<\/a><\/p>\n

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10. Games cause Epileptic Seizures: <\/strong>Thanks for the news report but this is a 30 year old story. I mean it dates back to the Atari 2600\/Collecovision\/NES days.\u00a0 It’s also why every single video game made since the early 1980’s has a warning about this on the first page of the manual.\u00a0 I’d say they handled this fairly though, noting how extremely rare the condition is and admitted it can be caused by strobe lights and the sun.<\/p>\n

9.\u00a0 CNN Claims a “whopping” 72% of parents don’t know what’s inside “these games.”\u00a0 <\/strong>I’d modify this alarmist statement so it reads a little less insulting to parents. I’d say that parents may not know the specifics, but they do know that a game called Grand Theft Auto might feature felony carjacking and that Manhunt probably involves hunting men.\u00a0 I’ve spoken to PTA groups locally in Milwaukee (not the savviest of towns) and found that parents know a lot more than CNN thinks they do.\u00a0 Also, CNN how about telling us where you got that number?\u00a0 I love the editing though, asking a random 12-year old why they like to play something is usually going to get an answer like “I like to kill people.” The next kid might have a different answer but hey, CNN got the answer they needed for the story.\u00a0 Also, why no mention that this 12-year old and 9-year old are playing a violent game in a public place?\u00a0 Which retailer made that bonehead move?\u00a0 There’s your story.<\/p>\n

8. CBS’ Katie Couric quotes the head of Common Sense Media as saying that games cause aggression and violence. <\/strong>There are actually a lot of reputable studies that refute this claim and it’s also notable that the studies Mr. CSM quoted also indicate that watching sports on TV increases aggression and violence. There are also studies that show an increase followed by a dramatic drop in aggression after the game is done.\u00a0 Couric isn’t bothered by all that, she found the “expert” she wanted to believe and ran with it. (Disclosure: I review video games for CommonSense Media) Thanks Katie, you’re doing a service with your quote\/unquote “NEWS” program, aren’t you.<\/p>\n

7. FOX Attacks Maple Story for being addictive: <\/strong>At GamerDad I tend to warn parents away from online roleplaying because the games are designed to “suck you in.”\u00a0 But is this the game’s fault? Or are parents failing to curb children who have poor self-control?\u00a0 Most kids play games like this with few problems and there are a lot of positive stories about these kinds of games – but that goes unmentioned here.<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0 MMORPGs can Lead to Suicide!: <\/strong>If you take out the histronics you have an accurate story. Kids should be controlled and limited when playing these kinds of games because obsessive anything is bad.\u00a0 Even my teenage vice of obsessive reader wasn’t good for me. But blaming a game for a suicide? And showing a mom who can’t be bothered to stop her teen from playing for 4 hours a day? And blaming all this on a game does a real disservice to the VAST number of people who play these games safely and with no ill consequences.\u00a0 My condolences to anyone harmed and I do warn parents to limit time with these kinds of games but it sounds to me like there are deeper problems at work behind these two particular families. “I blame the gaming companies, they’re using this like a drug…” this after talking about a litany of problems including ADD and Epilepsy. You could argue that the game contributed to his suicide and perhaps it indirectly did… but this was a 21 year old who clearly was looking for an escape and found it, temporarily, in EverQuest.<\/p>\n

5. Jack Thompson: School Shooting Expert explains VTech: <\/strong>Forget about the students and teachers who were afraid of this young man. Forget the psychiatric institution that completely failed him. Forget that according to his room mate he DID NOT PLAY GAMES and you’re forced to come to the conclusion that games made him into a psycho killer and trained him how to shoot.\u00a0 Personally, I blame Collective Soul and their song “Shine.”\u00a0 No, wait, I’m sane.\u00a0 I blame the psychiatric institution and school that failed him.<\/p>\n

4. Thompson again, this time about banning sales to minors: <\/strong>Games have been ruled as “speech” which means they’re covered by the First Ammendmant. Look, I’m as interested as anyone in keeping adults games out of the hands of kids but this ban proposes to fine or punish retailers for breaking unconstitutional laws.\u00a0 Also Jack, the movie ratings system is just like the video game one.\u00a0 Any theater that wants to risk public wrath can sell a ticket to SAW III to a 5-year old.\u00a0 There’s no law against it.\u00a0 Should there be?\u00a0 That’s a good argument but I’d prefer parents, rather than opportunists, be involved. Listen to Paul Levinsen, he’s the one on the right of the screen. The one not lying.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0Thompson blames Halo for Malvo Sniper Shootings: <\/strong>I suppose you can buy the argument that playing as a sniper in a game teaches you how to look through a scope and pull a trigger. But it took the other guy to really train this kid to kill innocent people. I know a lot of Halo fans, they play all the time, but they aren’t much better than anyone at shooting ranges and guess what?\u00a0 They find actual killing abhorrent.\u00a0 Also one wonders what crazy snipers trained on before video games. As for the military claim, I’ve heard that supported and refuted. Mostly refuted.<\/p>\n

2. Thompson again blames VATech on video games despite the fact that Cho didn’t play them. <\/strong>No comment needed.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 Xbox Live is full of racist, homophobic, idiotic trashtalk!<\/strong> Okay, yeah, they got this one right. No argument here.\u00a0 One could point out that trash talk is a tradition in all sports and existed well before videogames but why bother? Freedom of speech exists, there’s no real way for Microsoft to police or stop it, and it stinks.\u00a0 Parents should know about it.<\/p>\n

Stay with the video until the end. Jon Stewart of the Daily Show sums it all up. If only there was something parents could do!<\/p>\n

-GamerDad<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A gamer calling himself Recoton2007 has compiled a video of the top 10 attacks from the mainstream media regarding videogames in 2007 (taken from GameTrailers.com). It showcases why we do what we do and why it’s important. Go ahead and watch the video while I comment on them one by one. I can’t seem to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-miscellaneous"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}